F1 Mexico Grand Prix LIVE: Carlos Sainz wins from pole position ahead of Lando Norris
F1 live updates from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as the world title battle continues with Lando Norris cutting the gap Max Verstappen
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Carlos Sainz took a well deserved victory at the Mexico Grand Prix winning the race from pole position ahead of Lando Norris who made vital ground in the drivers championship on leader Max Verstappen.
Verstappen started the race on the front row and overtook Sainz heading to the first corner but a crash for Yuki Tsunodo brought out the safety car. After the restart Sainz swept past Verstappen as Norris looked to gain ground on the Red Bull.
The two title rivals tussled for position with Verstappen being very aggressive and forcing Norris off the track to maintain his position behind Sainz. It was one of two serious errors that caused the Red Bull driver to be penalised by 20-seconds which effectively forced him out of the race.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc safely positioned himself behind Sainz but lost second place to Norris in the closing stages and had to settle for third.
Relive the updates from the Mexican Grand Prix with The Independent:
F1 2025 grid: Who are the drivers racing next season?
The 2025 F1 season starts on Sunday 16 March at Albert Park in Australia.
It will be another 24-race season and there will be no new races in the calendar. However, there are a host of new drivers at fresh teams.
The biggest change is of course Lewis Hamilton’s mega-move to Ferrari, with Italian teen Kimi Antonelli replacing Hamilton at Mercedes. Carlos Sainz has joined Alex Albon at Williams.
British teenager Ollie Bearman has been promoted to a race seat at Haas, with Esteban Ocon partnering him having left Alpine. Jack Doohan has taken Ocon’s place while at Sauber, Nico Hulkenberg has taken one seat with the second yet to be confirmed.
Here is the 2025 driver line-up as it stands:
Who are the drivers on the 2025 F1 grid?
The grid will be much changed from the 2024 season with a host of new drivers joining the fray
Constructors’ Championship after Mexico GP
1. McLaren - 566 points
2. Ferrari - 537 points
3. Red Bull Racing -512 points
4. Mercedes - 366 points
5. Aston Martin - 86 points
6. Haas - 46 points
7. RB - 36 points
8. Williams - 17 points
9. Alpine - 14 points
10. Sauber - 0 points
Driver Standings after Mexico GP
1. Max Verstappen - 362 points
2. Lando Norris - 315 points
3. Charles Leclerc - 291 points
4. Oscar Piastri - 251 points
5. Carlos Sainz - 240 points
6. Lewis Hamilton - 189 points
7. George Russell - 177 points
8. Sergio Perez - 150 points
9. Fernando Alonso - 62 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 31 points
11. Lance Stroll - 24 points
12. Yuki Tsunoda - 22 points
13. Kevin Magnussen - 14 points
14. Alex Albon - 12 points
15. Daniel Ricciardo - 12 points
16. Pierre Gasly - 9 points
17. Ollie Bearman - 7 points
18. Esteban Ocon - 5 points
19. Franco Colapinto - 5 points
20. Liam Lawson - 2 points
21. Zhou Guanyu - 0 points
22. Logan Sargeant - 0 points
23. Valtteri Bottas - 0 points
Reaction from Verstappen
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished in P6 after receiving a 20 second penalty, he told Sky Sports: “The problem is when you’re slower you are being put in those kind of positions, I’m not going to give up easily.
“At the end of the day it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing about penalties the only thing is 20 seconds is quite a lot but the biggest problem of today and something that I worry about is the race pace which was really not good and something that we need to analyse.
“Even without those penalties we had no chance at all to fight up front. I’m not worried this was just a really bad day for us but I also know we can do much better than this so we just keep going at it.”
Verstappen reacts to Mexico Grand Prix
Here’s Max Verstappen giving his post-race reaction to Sky Sports:
Celebrations begin for Sainz
The party will go on for some time in Mexico City after Carlos Sainz’s victory. The Spaniard enjoyed that one:
More from Leclerc
Charles Leclerc also spoke about the improvement with his car. He said: “We are working super well as a team there has been quite a few races now that we are coming back to the level we should be at and it’s amazing to see.
“Obviously the constructors’ is our target and with weekends like this we are getting closer to it, so I hope we can continue in that direction and get that constructors’ title, which is very important.”
Post-match reaction from Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished in third place said: “It was a difficult one, on the first stint it was all about trying to manage your temperatures which was quite difficult.
“But in the end we did the best race we could do. The whole weekend I’ve been a little on the back foot so third place was all I could achieve on my side today.
“Amazing race by Carlos today and it’s a good weekend overall for the team, which is positive.”
Who will win constructors’ title?
McLaren are leading the way but Ferrari now up to second place and hav ewon the last two races. The gap between the two leaders is just 29 points.
Red Bull have fallen 54 points behind McLaren after a difficult weekend in Mexico but they can’t be ruled out either.
With both cars in the points today, sixth-placed Haas have pulled away from RB in seventh by 10 points. Could they challenge Aston Martin for fifth?
Can Norris win the championship?
Lando Norris on his championship hopes: “I just keep my head down, I’m doing my best. We’re doing a good job as a team, we were probably quickest in the end. We keep our head down, that’s what I can do for now. Focus on ourselves, we keep pushing.”
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